Michelle Reynaert, Vice President of the Sparrow Foundation, started her career in marketing, but soon realized she needed a deeper personal connection to her work. As it turns out, philanthropy was more her speed.

In her current role at Sparrow, she oversees the vital philanthropic operations that keep the non-profit health system healthy. Join us as Michelle discusses Sparrow’s upcoming fundraising campaign and her work which supports patients, caregivers, and staff.

115: Michelle Reynaert — The Power of Philanthropy

For many entrepreneurs, the end of the year is a time for holiday get-togethers, meeting deadlines, and – the big one – goal setting. We take time to visualize where we see our organization in the coming year, in five years, or even a decade down the line. We carefully map out our business's progress and trajectory. But are we focusing on what’s most important?

While it's pretty clear how to identify these quantitative metrics (like finances or organizational growth), it’s less clear whether our goals are aligned with the top priorities in our lives. Don't be fooled: Goal setting is not a one-size-fits-all situation. At work and at home, the factors your competitors, neighbors and friends are focusing on this year shouldn't necessarily be your priorities. You’ve got to write your own path.

This episode, we discuss how we can complete a soul-searching audit to identify goals that are personally meaningful throughout the new year.

Another Round – The Most Important Things We Do Each Year

Last month, the Detroit Free Press’s editorial page editor ran a piece about moving the state capital to Detroit, deeming Lansing a “sad little town.” It caused quite the stir, to say the least. Lansing residents and Detroiters alike sounded off on social media, the comments sections grew tense, and water cooler conversation was fueled for days.

As buzz around the article grew, people in the Lansing community latched onto the phrase “sad little town” with a sense of tongue-in-cheek pride. Thus, an anonymous “Sad Little Town” account on Twitter/X popped up overnight, accompanied by a website with t-shirts and hats proudly displaying the phrase. Almost overnight, “sad little town” evolved from a phrase unfairly maligning Lansing to a rallying cry for unity. (Because who doesn’t love a good t-shirt?)

At this point, it’s no secret that Jen harnessed the team at Redhead to put together the materials and skills for this on-the-fly opportunity. But what can this endeavor teach us about making the most of a moment to help bring a community together? This week, Karen talks to Jen about the project, why they chose to remain anonymous at the start, and how an unkind jab was reclaimed as an inside joke, all for the benefit of our beloved city.

Case Study: Sad Little Town

Youth might be a limited period in life, but youthfulness is a mindset that transcends age. When it comes to opportunities for career growth or probleming-solving, qualities like open-mindedness and curiosity are critical for success. But what are those qualities if not the characteristics of a youthful mindset?

Maintaining a youthful mindset doesn’t mean rejecting maturity or experience. Instead, it’s all about balancing the wisdom gained through experiences with the enthusiasm and curiosity that’s encouraged in youth. In this episode, we discuss how adopting a youthful mindset in our careers allows us to approach our work with knowledge, experience, and perpetual curiosity.

Don't Confuse Youth with Being Youthful

Whether intentional or not, sometimes a client is disingenuous about the end goals of a project. For whatever reason, they are not upfront with their initial objective, and massage the creative process through nitpicking and endless revisions to achieve an end product that is decidedly different from what was agreed upon.

In situations like these, it’s the job of the creative to advocate for their team, and explain to the client why nitpicking creative or playing it safe doesn’t serve their audience, and doesn’t serve their message. This is a tricky situation to be in, and it takes experience to successfully explain to a stubborn client why being upfront allows you to build them the product they need. This week, we share our own experiences with the dreaded client “bait and switch”, and break down how we work towards a successful end goal when confronted with these situations.

Clients Who Bait and Switch

Founded by David Such and Larry Bass in 2008, ScrapFest is a Lansing art festival that brings together artists from around the country to compete in a scrap metal sculpture competition. Earlier this year, Karen’s media production company, Render Studios, premiered their debut ScrapFest documentary. The film highlights various artists and their sculptures from the previous year's festival, offering viewers an immersive exploration into the creative journey of participating artists.


For our second entry into our new case study series, we offer a deep dive into the documentary and its filmmaking process. This week, Karen shares what the creative process looks like for such an endeavor, why ScrapFest has a special place in Render’s heart, and the rich narrative potential inherent in documenting the stories of artists.

Case Study: ScrapFest Documentary

For better or worse, sometimes we are our job, or our brand, or our leadership role…you get the picture. When you’re in a situation where your job isn’t something you put down at the end of the day and walk away from, what does that mean in terms of work-life balance?

If you’re in a position where your job follows you into the other aspects of your life, it could be helpful to view your job not as your life, but rather as your lifestyle. In this episode, we talk about when wearing many hats at once means a traditional approach to work-life balance doesn’t make sense, and the benefits that come from viewing your work as a lifestyle, rather than just a job.

Is Your Job a Job or Is Your Job a Lifestyle?

Navigating the complexities of caregiving for aging parents is an endeavor fraught with uncertainty and emotion. It's a journey that often catches us off guard, forcing us to confront the profound responsibility of guiding our parents through end-of-life care.

In this episode, we delve into our personal experiences with aging parents, reflecting on the hurdles faced and lessons learned. From grappling with difficult medical decisions to finding the right support systems, we discuss the steps we wish we’d taken to prepare and share the candid realities of being members of the sandwich generation.

Have the Hard Conversations Before It’s Too Late

What do you do when you want to spread the word about free money for college to quite literally every graduating high school student in the state? A large-scale public awareness campaign with some pretty creative tactics, of course. This episode, we’re diving into a case study on The Michigan Achievement Scholarship campaign — a multi-modal marketing campaign complete with videos, billboards, mailers, social media, and more aimed at spreading the word about postsecondary education funding. 

The Michigan Achievement Scholarship is a new source of funding launched in 2023 designed to help recent graduates from high schools in Michigan pay for college or continuing education. Eligible students could receive financial aid to attend a college or university with the Michigan Achievement Scholarship, or for a career training program with the Michigan Achievement Skills Scholarship. Alongside the client leading this drive, Michigan College Access Network (MCAN), Redhead crafted a campaign that would drive audiences to take action, and Render produced some effective videos to drive these efforts. We discuss how strategic messaging, design, and videography converged to appeal to young audiences, simplify a somewhat-dense concept and make this campaign a success. 

Links:
The Michigan Achievement Scholarship
https://getmimoney.org/ 
Michigan College Access Network:

Case Study: The Michigan Achievement Scholarship for MCAN

Tight marketing budgets are a reality for many organizations, including nonprofits and advocacy groups. Clients like these operate with limited resources, yet they play a vital role in addressing societal issues, driving change, and raising awareness about important causes. Oftentimes, when nonprofits and advocacy organizations struggle with ineffective marketing strategies, their biggest hurdle is how they approach marketing, rather than the budget they have to do it.

For mission-based organizations, their marketing strategy is the connective tissue that furthers their efforts. Whether their goal is greater visibility, fundraising, coalition building, or volunteer recruiting, a strategic approach to communication is necessary for accomplishing their mission. In this episode, we talk about the common mistakes nonprofits and advocacy organizations make with their approach to marketing, and how they can develop an effective marketing strategy, even with financial constraints.

Why Your Budget Isn’t Big Enough: Advocacy Edition

Setting expectations for your team is a crucial task. However, in our current work environment where the playbook seems ever-evolving, that process can seem easier said than done. For many business owners in the creative industry, defining these expectations comes with a boatload of questions — what should they encompass? Which expectations are outdated, and which need to be reiterated? How do we strike a balance between flexibility and productivity?

This week, we discuss where we find ourselves in this ongoing process. Join us as we explore the nuances of expectation-setting in this new era, and why clear communication is the key to getting you and your team on the same page.

Setting Expectations for Employees

Hi. Jen Estill and Karen Stefl here. In The Speak Easy Podcast, we share years of expertise in marketing, branding, video production, strategy—not to mention management, employee development, mentoring, sales, creativity, maintaining life balance, managing money, and.. you get the idea. It takes a lot to keep a couple of creative studios thriving. 

We developed this podcast after years of "how do you..." boss lady conversations. It was clear that if we were both in such similar places with regard to business growth, and personal growth, and work/life/motherhood/bossland balance, then other women may be, too. We'd been sharing confessions over cocktails for quite a while—solving problems, asking for advice, and whispering the secret fears and disappointments that successful women are never supposed to have. (You've had those, right? It's not just us?)

Thus, Speak Easy was born. Our goal and our promise is to speak with honesty about the challenges that experienced women in the creative industry face. To create a community where we can support one another and abandon the mantra that we put on a good face and make it look like we have it all together, even when we don't. You can expect honesty, complete vulnerability and even a good laugh.

And cocktails. You can expect cocktails.

115: Michelle Reynaert — The Power of Philanthropy

The Speak Easy Podcast

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